The trend in the book world nowadays is to ‘release’ a book in multiple cities, to provide that extra publicity. Similar to one he had done before, Kamal released Romancing With Life, the autobiography of veteran Dev Anand. The Hindu’s report included highlights of their own Ram’s speech but not Kamal’s. IndiaGlitz and Behindwoods too carried short reports, with the latter mentioning that Kamal had cancelled a portion of Dasavatharam’s shooting for attending this function. KollywoodToday.com topped it all, with a huge collection of wonderful photos.

The guest list included Jayapradha, Kamal’s co-star most recently in Dasavatharam.

Yes, something was brewing at the Dasavatharam camp atleast. The first full set of stills and some news was released today.

Not surprisingly, none of the ‘get-ups’ have been revealed. This set of stills just serves as a teaser, marking the start of the publicity in the run-up to the movie’s release.

The stills feature Kamal, Asin and Mallika predominantly. Some of them match with a few released earlier on Mallika’s Web-site.

Some of the rumours that surfaced earlier are now confirmed with the release of these stills.

Other details that have come up:

• Two more songs are to be picturised. They will cost about 3 crore (30 million) Rupees and sets for the same are being worked upon currently.
• The audio will be released in October.
• A fight sequence with Kamal pitted against Kamal himself was shot for 20 days, employing a Hollywood stunt director. Another chase sequence was filmed in Chidambaram.
• While Asin dubs for herself for the first time, Kamal is supposed to have used a different voice for each character he plays. Meanwhile, 5000 people have dubbed for a scene involving around 10000 people!
• English and Japanese linguists have been used for the movie.
• Several directors have acted in the movie.

Today’s news seems to indicate that a Diwali release isn’t likely. We are probably looking at December.

Read detailed reports and enjoy more stills on The Hindu, Sify.com, Behindwoods and IndiaGlitz.

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

Editor’s Note:
Another reader joins the series! Just about a week more left for ‘A’. C’mon folks!

by Mahesh

I confess that this is not the first movie that would come to mind when you think Kamal Haasan, but for me it does. As Janardhanan, Kamal did not impress me much, but as Junior he did. I became a fan then and continue to be one. I do not recall much about the movie as I last watched it about 15 years ago, but a few things stand out till date:

1. Kamal acts as a third hero (if you can call it that) in the movie! Talks a ton of the man who is used to care more about the role than his presence.
2. As a Malayalee accountant Janardhanan, Kamal impressed with his ability to converse in a Malayalam-tinged Tamil.
3. But the most impressive thing about Kamal in Avargal is his role as Junior. Kamal appears as a ventriloquist in the movie and from what I gather, really learnt the art. I still recall the first scene as Junior when one can see Kamal’s throat muscles move as Junior speaks! Kudos to the man, the actor and the artist.

In my opinion, Avargal sums up Kamal’s performance in many a movie. Caring more about the role than his presence or appearance - illustrated in Apoorva Raagangal, Guna, Swathi Muthyam (Sippikkul Muthu), 16 Vayadhinile, Kalyanaraman, Anbe Sivam, etc. His versatility with languages / accents - MMKR, Tenali, Maharasan, Sathi Leelavathi, Chanakyan, Panchathanthiram, Rama Bhama Shyama, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, etc. His dedication in learning the art to become the character depicted — Sagara Sangamam (Salangai Oli), Punnagai Mannan, Apoorva Sagodarargal etc.

The man really deserves A++.

Almost all has been quiet on the Kamal front of late. Of course, that means that something is brewing. The mystery was finally resolved through reliable sources. Kamal’s next movie will be Marma Yogi (”mysterious saint”, shall we say?), directed and produced by himself. With a curious title, the surprises are that it’s supposed to be an action thriller — and I thought Kamal would direct only ’serious’ movies (Hey Ram, Virumaandi) — and that the music will be done by AR Rahman. Talks are on to rope in a Bollywood heroine, as the movie will be released in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Oscar Ravichandran, UTV and Adlabs are all in talks related to production and distribution. The movie might be launched in January. We can see that the domain name is already registered and it mentions Raaj Kamal Films International, Kamal’s production house.

Marma Yogi is also an old MGR flick, known as the first Tamil movie to receive an ‘A’ certification. Kamal’s penchant for old titles (Apoorva Sagodharargal, Sathi Leelavathi, etc.) continues.

Junior Vikatan, the Tamil weekly and the Chennai edition of Deccan Chronicle too sniffed out portions of this news recently. After several rumours and announcements regarding Kamal’s next movie earlier, let’s hope this is the final one.